The institute’s Director Dariusz Jaworski paid tribute to those helping bring Polish books to foreign audiences.
In a special letter to translators of Polish literature, Jaworski said: “Your work - or mission, or even vocation, because evidently it’s something that requires a spark of talent, remarkable tenacity and strength of character - provides the foundation for Polish literature’s presence in the world.”
He added: “Without your translations and commitment, readers wouldn’t be able to explore the seminal works of our culture.”
Support for translators of Polish literature
The state-run Polish Book Institute offers a range of grants, scholarships and educational programmes for those who render Polish literary works into foreign languages, officials told reporters.
Under one programme, dubbed the College of Translators, the institute has provided residencies in the capital Warsaw and the southern city of Kraków for more than 100 translation professionals from close to 40 countries, according to officials.
Translators from France, Britain and the United States, but also Colombia, India and Vietnam, among other cultures, have participated in these retreats, designed for concentration, study, meetings with authors and experts, and production of translations.
Workshops, prizes, world congress
The Polish Book Institute also runs the School of New Translators, a series of workshops for aspiring translators of Polish literature into foreign languages.
Moreover, the organisation grants its annual Transatlantyk Prize for eminent "ambassadors of Polish literature" abroad, who may include translators.
This year’s Transatlantyk Prize went to Prof. Silvano de Fanti, who is considered to be the greatest living translator of Polish literature into Italian.
Meanwhile, the Found in Translation Award honours translators of Polish books into English. It is granted by the Polish Book Institute in collaboration with the Polish Cultural Institute New York and the Polish Cultural Institute in London.
This year, the prize went to Jennifer Croft for her translation of The Books of Jacob by Nobel Prize-winning Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk.
Finally, the Polish Book Institute honours translation professionals by holding the World Congress of Polish Literature Translators, which takes place every four years.
The 5th Congress, held in Kraków in June, attracted 500 participants, including 250 translators from more than 50 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia, officials told reporters.
(pm/gs)
Source: instytutksiazki.pl, consilium.europa.eu